Netgear Arlo Go

The Netgear Arlo Go is a completely wireless outdoor surveillance camera that uses cellular communication to deliver live and recorded video to your phone from anywhere.

The Netgear Arlo Go is a completely wireless outdoor surveillance camera that uses cellular communication to deliver live and recorded video to your phone from anywhere.

Sept. 8, 2017John R. Delaney

The latest addition to Netgear's Arlo family of smart home security cameras, the Arlo Go is the company's first wireless camera to use cellular technology to deliver live and recorded video to your mobile device. Like its Wi-Fi-enabled cousin (and our current Editors' Choice) the Arlo Pro, the Arlo Go is weatherproof and powered by a rechargeable battery pack, which means you can install it just about anywhere. It lets you add video surveillance to areas that don't have access to Wi-Fi, works with third-party smart home devices, offers free cloud storage, and doesn't require a hub. That said, at $429 it's at the high end of the home surveillance camera price scale, and you have to subscribe to a monthly cellular plan on top of that.

Design and Plans

The Arlo Go looks like the Arlo Pro on steroids. It measures 3.0 by 2.7 by 3.5 inches (HWD), weighs 11.8 ounces (with battery), and sports the same basic form factor and white finish as the Pro. Instead of a magnetic mount it has a mounting hole on its base that attaches to a black, heavy-duty metal stand that can be attached to a wall, a tree, or any hard surface using the included mounting hardware. Or, you can skip the stand and just place the camera on any flat surface. As with the original Arlo and Arlo Pro cameras, it has an IP65 weatherproof rating.

Pressing a button on the back panel reveals the compartment for the rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, which is rated to provide up to three months of power depending on recording frequency and how often you initiate a live stream. If that's not enough you can pick up an Arlo Solar Panel ($79.99), which keeps the battery charged on a few hours of sunlight per day. Also in the compartment are slots for the cellular SIM card (included) and a microSD Card (not included) for storing video locally. The Sync button toward the front of the camera is used for pairing with your phone.

As with every other wireless Arlo camera we've tested, the Arlo Go sits idle until the Live button is pressed or when a sound or motion event triggers a recording. The camera records video at 720p, uses 10 infrared LEDS to provide up to 25 feet of night vision, and has a 130-degree field of view and an 8X digital zoom. It also has a speaker and a microphone for two-way audio communication.

The camera does not connect to a Wi-Fi network; instead it uses a cellular radio that connects to a 4G LTE network. As of now there are two choices; if you go with the Arlo Mobile network (reviewed here), the camera will cost you $429.99 and you can choose one of three subscription plans. For $3.99 per month you get 15 minutes of recording time, $18.39 per month gets you 120 minutes, and $26.39 gets you 225 minutes. If you go with Verizon as your carrier the camera will cost you $399 or $349.99 with a two-year contract. Either way, you'll $20 per month for an unlimited data plan.

App

The Arlo Go uses the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) and web console as the Arlo, Arlo Pro, Arlo Baby, and Arlo Q cameras. It opens to a home screen that shows all installed Arlo cameras. To launch a live feed, tap the Live button on the Go screen. You can then tap the arrow icon in the lower right corner to open a full-screen feed and use the buttons along the bottom to take a snapshot, record video, enable two-way audio, adjust brightness, and mute the speaker. At the top of the screen, on the left, are motion and sound detection status indicators, a signal meter, a battery life meter, and an SD card status indicator. Over on the right is a circle with the number of notifications awaiting since the last time you used the app, and a gear icon for accessing the settings menus where you can turn the camera on and off, select video quality (Best Video, Optimized, Best Battery Life), enable night vision, and check cellular network settings.

Back at the home screen there are four buttons at the bottom of the page. Devices shows the list of all installed cameras, Library takes you to a screen that displays a list of all recorded events with video and photo thumbnails and the reason for the recording, and Mode is where you can arm and disarm motion and sound detection, create a schedule for motion and sound detection, or use geofencing to turn motion and sound detection on and off according to your location. The Settings button takes you to a screen where you can invite other users to access the camera, check your subscription level, and access individual device settings.

Installation and Performance

If you already own an Arlo camera you can add the Arlo Go to your existing account, otherwise you have to create an account using the mobile app or web portal. Once the account is set up, install the battery pack, plug the camera into an electrical outlet, and click Add Device at the bottom of the home screen. Select Arlo Go from the list of devices, and when a QR code appears on your screen, press the Sync button on the camera and hold your phone near it until you hear a chime. The app will need around 20 seconds to discover the camera, at which time you'll be asked to confirm the serial number and give the camera a name. Next, chose a mobile plan and a viewing plan. Once your cellular account is active, the camera will be listed on your Device screen.

The Arlo Go delivered sharp daytime video with excellent color quality and no obvious distortion in testing. Black-and-white night video was also sharp out to around 20 feet and showed good contrast. Motion and audio alerts arrived immediately in my email inbox, as did push alerts to my phone, and geofencing worked wonderfully.

I created an IFTTT applet to have a D-Link Smart Plug turn on when the Arlo Go detected motion or sound, and it responded quickly without fail. Two-way audio communication was crystal clear, and recorded video appeared every bit as sharp and colorful as the live feed. It should be noted that I had a decent cellular connection during my testing, but if you're in an area where you can't get a good signal, you may experience varying degrees of motion lag.

Conclusions

The Netgear Arlo Go is an easy-to-use outdoor camera for those who need to monitor outdoor areas that have no access to electricity or Wi-Fi. It uses a rechargeable battery that should provide up to three months of juice with normal use, and it connects to a cellular network to deliver live and recorded video without the need for cables. The camera offers precise motion and audio detection and prompt email and push notifications, and it works with other smart home devices. At $430, it's very expensive, and when you factor in an additional monthly cellular fee, you're looking at a sizable investment. However, if you need to keep an eye on your cabin in the woods, a boat docked in a remote lake area, or simply want a high-tech trail cam, the Arlo Go is an excellent choice.

About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, HDTVs, PCs, servers, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for more than 14 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Labs technical staff, as well as evaluating and maintaining the integrity of the Labs testing machines and procedures.

Prior to joining Ziff Davis Publishing, John spent six years in retail operations for Federated Stores, Inc. before accepting a purchasing position with Morris Decision Systems, one of New York's first value-added resellers of the original IBM PC. For ... See Full Bio